Santo Domingo from the 60th floor!

[VoltageDeNYC]

Originally Posted by dv8

those buildings sure look impressive but are they safe against earthquakes?
the thing i miss in POP is tall buildings, i understand there is a law against it.
what can i do, i am a city girl, i like buildings and apartments more than houses...

They are. The taller buildings use anti-hurricane facades. Just think about it, in Japan they get typhoons and earthquakes and Tokyo and other major cities haven't fallen and they have huge skyscrapers. There are many other cities that I can name as example. I think that a 60 story building is great for Santo Domingo. It might surprise people, but 80 percent of the apartments in the Caney Tower are ALREADY sold. So people do want to move into these buildings.

[dv8]

Originally Posted by VoltageDeNYC

They are. The taller buildings use anti-hurricane facades. Just think about it, in Japan they get typhoons and earthquakes and Tokyo and other major cities haven't fallen and they have huge skyscrapers. There are many other cities that I can name as example. I think that a 60 story building is great for Santo Domingo. It might surprise people, but 80 percent of the apartments in the Caney Tower are ALREADY sold. So people do want to move into these buildings.

i get thet but:
japan = CIVILISATION AND NO CORRUPTION/THEFT
DR = not much of civilisation but lots of theft and corruption
hence my question.
and btw, i'd live in an apartment like that anytime!

ps can you imagine joys of walking 60 storey when the lifts are out because of the electricity cut? no need to pay the gym fees!

[Chirimoya]

Originally Posted by VoltageDeNYC

It might surprise people, but 80 percent of the apartments in the Caney Tower are ALREADY sold. So people do want to move into these buildings.

Government officials prominent among them, according to a conversation I overheard at a dinner party the other evening. How much are the apartments, US$1m each?

[Guatiao]

Hi Everybody,

Where was this picture taken from? Mirador Sur park? Its a great shot.

[NALs]

Originally Posted by Heketi

Hi Everybody,

Where was this picture taken from? Mirador Sur park? Its a great shot.

The answer was in your head the entire time!

It's on the Mirador Sur Park, slightly to the west of the Dominican Fiesta Hotel, south of Los Cacicazgos.

It is a very good shot.

-NALs

[Chip00]

Of course it is a good idea - it will bring international business and wealthy people - all who hav a lot of money to spend.

There are lots of medium size towns in the US that would be licking their chops to get anyone of these towers - I could make a list if anybody wants!

The philosophy of these major developers is "build it and they will come" and for the most part they have been proven right many more times than wrong. Ex. World Trade Center etc.

The truth of the matter is when projects get to a certain size all of the market studies, planning models and concurrency issues have to be tossed out of the window because they fail to be relevant. It is typically because they are narrow-minded in scope and short term in vision.

A good example would be this one crazy developer (ex client of mine) who, along with me and some others met the Orlando Planning staff to talk about the construction of a 3000' tower in downtown Orlando. The chief planner was there and all he could talk about was, could you fill it up, what about traffic, can you pay for it all and it didn't matter that my client said he was willing to invest US20billion. In fact the planner was so negative my client decided he'll find some other town in the US with real vision. And the real funny thing is the City has been trying for years and years to get industries and business to come to Orlando so they don't just have to rely on tourism and they don't realize that if you put in premium office space that it will attract all kinds of major players to your market - how 'bout that for cutting of your nose to spite your foot!

I know this can only be good for the DR. I think the capital has greatly improved in terms of cleanliness and roads from when I first visited in '99 and now and I'm sure the amount of new development has something to do with it. Notwithstanding the taxes that will be generated that potentially could be put to better use such as infrastructure and public safety

[aegap]

Going by the El Caney tower construction, look at the picture at was able to take of some Hatian laborer working there (I took it black and white for a better affect):

[qgrande]

The peculiar thing about high rise in Santo Domingo is that it's almost all residential. In most cities I know the tallest buildings are almost all office buildings...

[NALs]

Originally Posted by qgrande

The peculiar thing about high rise in Santo Domingo is that it's almost all residential. In most cities I know the tallest buildings are almost all office buildings...

A common shift in office real estate in many U.S. cities (including NYC) for some time now has been the conversion of office space to residential space, even in the heart of the CBD.

Perhaps you meant to say that the tallest structures tend to be of the glass international style, because many of the so-called "office buildings" are increasingly become residential. Of course, for most people they still appear like "office buildings" because the facade is minimally change in the conversions, if at all.

Oddly enough, it's similar to the conversion of former resorts to residential units in the DR, especially in Juan Dolio. From the looks of it, those former resorts still have that "resort look", but only through closer inspection can someone realize that they are residential and not a resort.

I'm not discounting your comment, because I know in many cases what you say is true. However, its important to keep in mind the high conversion rates occuring in many of the office buildings, which despite having an office building appearance have gone the residential route lately.

-NALs

[aegap]

...even in the heart of the CBD.

Wall Street, NYC perhaps been a prime example of that; even the old NYSE building was converted for condo(?) use.